Had a good month? Well we've been busy writing three fantastic articles about digital, brand and media concepts for you - as well as opening our new photography studio for hire to amateur and professional photographers. We can now handle Executive PR portraits, Product shoots and Modelling work in house; saving time and cost to our clients. It's a very exciting time for us.
New web content you may find interesting this month:
http://studio.personacreative.com - New web site for our photography studio.
http://blog.personacreative.com - News and inside info from our team.
http://www.personacreative.com - Examples of our work and services.
Blogging or dogging?
You may have heard a few months ago that 70% of cabbies and hairdressers thought blogging was the same as dogging! Now whilst this got the guffaws of those who know otherwise - the reality is most of them probably don't need to know and the rest probably should do, because blogs and their associated techniques in web content are here to stay.
So, before we get into discussing the uses - let's just set the record straight:
- Blog: Short for web log, blogs are regularly updated online journals that reflect the authors personality, knowledge and opinions.
- RSS: Really Simple Syndication is a way of making web content available to subscribers through XML.
- Podcast: Similar to RSS, Podcasts are audio clips and that can be subscribed to by listeners. Typically used for opinion pieces and radio shows.
- Blogvertising: Using a blog as a place to market. Through placement of advertising or endorsement by the blog author.
If you have knowledge, experience and opinion about your industry, it's worth having a blog of your own (if you don't already). What's really interesting about blogs is that they go back to the very root of what the web was supposed to be about - giving people freedom and opportunity to publish content quickly and easily and making it all link together to form a 'web' of information. With over 10,000 new blog sites created every day, it's not hard to see how it's become such a phenomenon.
How is this useful to your business?
Read the full article on our blog (ironic isn't it?)
Liked this article? Hated it? Got you thinking? Feel free to discuss it with us.
Next month: Mobile marketing is back and this time it's taking over.
Buying from People vs. Buying from Brands
Most of us have heard the phrase "people buy from people". When you're in front of that prospect or customer - nobody can sell your business better than you can. But what happens when you (or your colleagues) are not there for a face-to-face? You can't sell a million widgets just by networking and how much time have we all wasted talking up a prospect that results in nothing? Frustrating we know, so after spending some time in our think tank we've worked up a correlation between 'people-power' and 'customer not present'.
There are four points that makes "people buy from people" a solid statement:
- Accountability
- Trust
- Recognition
- Accessibility
By selling direct to buyers, we make ourselves personally accountable for any deal done. This in turn builds (or breaks) trust in the relationship, which is a factor we all pay close attention to in business. Over time, we build up recognition with our buyers and this makes it easy for them to get access to them. It works great until you have to do it over and over again for every prospective piece of business. For all it's power, it's one of the biggest bottlenecks in the sales cycle.
So how can you make your brand work for you in the same way?
Read the full article to find out.
Liked this article? Hated it? Got you thinking? Feel free to discuss it with us.
Next month: Why ethical marketing is a big opportunity for you.
Planning a PR Campaign
I haven't come across many people who didn't say they want more publicity for their business. Interesting then is that so many businesses don't actually plan their PR campaign to get the results they truly want (and need).
Planning a good PR campaign means you or your company can ride on the publicity wave for a good amount of time. With the right planning, any concurrent communication, be it trade press releases, media support or online publishing can each considerably increase their value beyond what they deliver for you right now.
It's a tough game vying for an editors attention. Too much, too soon and your press activity will run out of steam. Too little and you'll go undetected. Finally, if your media activity is too irrelevant to the audience, you'll be subject to the rubbish bin. In either case quality and focus will keep effort (and costs) down and success high.
Get the most from opportunities in PR
Read the full article.
Liked this article? Hated it? Got you thinking? Feel free to discuss it with us.
Next month: Media ownership